2 months ago
28
Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!
Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.
Visit Suniway.ph to learn
MANILA, Philippines — A House majority leader revealed new fictitious names allegedly linked to Vice President Sara Duterte’s confidential funds.
In a statement on Sunday, March 30, House Deputy Majority Leader Rep. Paolo Ortega (La Union) referred to the new names as a “team grocery,” who are listed as alleged beneficiaries of the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) P500 million confidential funds.
The names. The newly revealed names resemble common food items found in markets and grocery stores.
For instance, the top name on the list is "Beverly Claire Pampano," which, according to Ortega, is also the name of a widely sold fish.
Following this, another name on the list is "Mico Harina," with a surname that translates to "flour," a basic ingredient in baking.
Also included are "Patty Ting" and "Ralph Josh Bacon," which resemble burger ingredients, as well as "Sala Casim," which is similar to a pork shoulder cut commonly used in Filipino dishes like adobo and menudo, according to Ortega.
These names were submitted to the Commission on Audit. Ortega said that these alleged recipients do not match any official birth, marriage, or death records from the Philippine Statistics Authority, similar to the previously flagged recipients of the confidential funds from Duterte’s offices.
“Kung hindi sila totoong tao, nasaan napunta ang pondo?” Ortega asked in a statement.
(If they are not real people, where did the funds go?)
He added that the absence of government-issued records suggests that someone may have deliberately created the “grocery list” to allegedly misappropriate confidential funds.
Previous records related to the joint confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd), totaling P612.5 million, have shown similar questionable entries. These include names resembling snack brands, tech gadgets, and seemingly fabricated aliases.
Last week, Ortega also revealed that "Amoy Liu," "Fernan Amuy," and "Joug De Asim," collectively referred to as "Team Amoy Asim," were fictitious names reportedly listed as recipients of confidential funds from the DepEd during Duterte's tenure as secretary.
In addition to the already well-known names "Mary Grace Piattos" and "Kokoy Villamin," the list of alleged "Budol Gang" members has expanded to include "Renan Piatos," "Pia Piatos-Lim," "Xiaome Ocho," "Jay Kamote," "Miggy Mango," and five individuals all named "Dodong."
According to Ortega, of the 1,992 individuals allegedly receiving confidential funds from the OVP, a significant number lacked official records: 1,322 had no birth certificates, 1,456 had no marriage certificates, and 1,593 had no death certificates.
Earlier, House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability Chairperson Rep. Joel Chua (Manila, Third district) reported that 405 out of 677 names listed as beneficiaries of DepEd confidential funds also lacked birth records.
In February, the House of Representatives forwarded impeachment articles against the Vice President, including allegations of confidential fund misuse.
The vice president has since requested the Supreme Court to issue a temporary halt to the impeachment proceedings.
The Senate is scheduled to begin the impeachment process on June 2, with the trial expected to start on July 30.
Apart from her impeachment, three petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the confidential and intelligence funds of Duterte’s offices.
RELATED: Third petition filed vs Sara Duterte's secret funds reaches SC
